Need money for my idea

[Taktik]

Hi,

the last couple of weeks I worked on a new business idea. It is nothing revolutionary new or something, just a physical product, where I made some value skews.

Unfortunately I had a thinking error, that caused me to think, that I need much less money than is actually needed.
I identifyed this error yesterday and now I don't quite know, what to do.

After going through the numbers againg, I came to the conclusion, that I need at least 20k or better 30k+, to really get the business going (20k is more than double of what I planned in the first place, and also more, than I currently have). Most of the money would go into the production of the products. I guess that I could lower those numbers, when I negotiate with producers about the MOQ, but I am not sure, if the producers would do that, so I am calculating with the worst case numbers.

The big question now is, what to do to make this amount of money.
I am working in a day job for 40 hours a week and have a small child, so I don't have that much free time. Also saving money from the day job to fund the idea would take way to long.
At the moment I am thinking of starting a small, cheaper business that would hopefully fund this idea or I could start freelancing.
I don't know what the better option is. By starting a small company to fund the other I would learn a lot, that I could then use in the new company. One the other hand, I feel like it would take longer to start a business to fund the idea than it would take to start freelancing. But than again, I don't really know, as I have never freelanced before.

 

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[ShamanKing]

Have you gone to the banks?

 

[Taktik]

Have you gone to the banks?

I thought about that, but I already got a loan and don't want to take up another.

 

[jonahsr]

Depending on the product, you can start pre-selling to generate revenue. Think Kickstarter etc. (doesn't need to be them, you can also create the landing page yourself & buy traffic). This strategy is also good to test initial demand in the marketplace so you don't spend huge amounts of money on manufacturing a product people won't buy.

 

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[Atu]

Random things to consider:

1. Being an entrepreneur is not about "looking after my idea". It's rather "What is the biggest value I can provide someone using what I have and know NOW?" If you look from this angle - there is never any lack of resources - only lack of ingenuity to give value.
2. What about looking after another, bit-more paying day job?
3. What about limiting daily expenses at the same time?
4. Whole thing "Need money for my idea" sounds a bit out of this forum. How much time do you have after working and looking after the child? Can you dedicate this time to generate some revenue streams? You had some time to develop your idea...
5. You can always go search this forum and find this thing: Retail Arbitrage as a Side Hustle
6. How many customers are waiting for your new product in despair? Can you ask them to pay upfront? If not - maybe try this:GOLD! - No network? No money? No idea? No education? NO PROBLEM!

The whole effort of @MJ DeMarco and others on this forum is to not have anyone say "I have no money". We all have same amount of time daily
And best wishes

 

[ZCP]

@Taktik sitting here finding reasons for not doing it and making excuses sure as hell isn't going to get you there sooner.

Turn $1 into $2. Then repeat. Keep going and planting new plants in new areas until 1 or 2 starts to flourish. Then put all the knowledge and time and money you have gained into those plants / areas. You need a big initial garden until you find the key crop.

Get started!

Hustle, buy / sell, start a small business, buy a small business, work late, work extra, freelance.

JUST GET STARTED!

 

[Sadik]

By starting a small company to fund the other I would learn a lot, that I could then use in the new company. One the other hand, I feel like it would take longer to start a business to fund the idea than it would take to start freelancing.

Why the hurry? If you have another business idea which is cheaper, where you can learn and through which over time you can save enough funds, why not go ahead with it? How long is "longer"?

How much you can earn freelancing on the side depends on your market, skills, ability to sell. If you have never freelanced before, freelancing also takes times to get going. I think you are thinking short term. Think in terms of 5 years when choosing either paths, which has better long term value.

And all the best.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Options:

-- Crowdfund
-- Credit cards
-- Banks
-- Presell
-- Partner with friends/family with money who have looked at your product and your potential profit numbers.

If you show someone the opportunity to earn 20% on their money in a few months, you might get a few takers.

Demonstrate the product's unique skews and back it up with solid numbers.

 

[Taktik]

Depending on the product, you can start pre-selling to generate revenue. Think Kickstarter etc.

-- Crowdfund

Thanks for the tip.
This is interesting. At first I had crowdfunding in the back of my head as one potential method to get funding. While working on the details, I forgot about it and then, when I realized, that I don't have enough money at the moment, I got stressed. My mind shut down, so to say, and I could not come up with the potential solution, that I had in mind in the first place.
The lesson I am learning here is, that one should not try to come up with solutions, when feeling stressed. Thinking straight then becomes an almost insurmountable task, at least for me. It is better to calm down and relax and then think rational and analytical about the problem and possible solutions.

How much you can earn freelancing on the side depends on your market, skills, ability to sell. If you have never freelanced before, freelancing also takes times to get going. I think you are thinking short term. Think in terms of 5 years when choosing either paths, which has better long term value.

You are right. I thought about it short term, but when thinking in terms of 5 years, the solution seems quite obvious.

 

[MattR82]

You can get a provisional patent for 100 bucks and license it. There's a lot more to it than that obviously but that's the cheapest way.

 

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